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Jethro Tull was an 18th century author who wrote a book on horses entitle ‘Horse-Hoeing Husbandry…’
Uriah Heep was an evil twisted falsely humble character in Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield.

But who, who was Pink Floyd?

I remember written on the bathroom stalls at a large midwestern university the words, “Withdrawal is something Nixon’s father should have thought of. Nixon’s a psychopath.”

I was a psychology student at the time and, inspired by that wisdom, set about to find out exactly what was a psychopath.
A psychopath was a person who completely lacked a conscience. Well, that was easy enough.
Stanly Kubrick provided the graphics: “A Clockwork Orange.” Music by Walter Carlos, now Wendy Carlos.

Now, it was what a psychopath does, or thinks, or fears, or loathes that is more interesting. Where these studies came from
I’m afraid to ask,
but I learned in psychology that psychopaths tended to have an intrepid fear of embarrassment, humiliation, being the odd man out.

Well, okay, that was Nixon enough, but even more, I remember the words my professor used,
“If they were to wear a neck-tie to a bow-tie affair, they would die a thousand deaths.”

So that blew my entire pre-conceived notions about a psychopath.
I thought that kid in grammar school who was non-conformist, had a beard 5 years before the rest of us,
and bought liquor for us when he
was twelve, and greased his hair back while the rest of us looked like the Beatles
was surely a psychopath, but, “No…” {He was just a greaser.}

Now, Bill Clinton was not my favorite person. He did like watching the polls. nevertheless, he did things that were not popular
with his own party. He
made welfare reform his mission,he committed jets to help stop the decimation of Bosnian Muslims during the pummeling of Bosnia Herzegovina by the Serbs and the Croats.

He took the criticism, responded to it tartly, sometimes cleverly, often sullenly, but he did exact the job of being President.

George Bush evidently could care less about polls.
He reached across the aisle as his first move to invite Senator Kennedy to work on a New Education Bill,
people on the right cringed, and many criticized “No Child Left behind”,
he committed troops to Afghanistan when everyone thought it was a good idea.

He committed troops to Iraq when no-one on the left and few on the right thought that that that was ‘the War.’

He presented Harriett Miers as his choice for the Supreme Court when no-one on the right thought he was in his right mind.

He flew over Katrina Stricken New Orleans, not stopping to show he was concerned.
(I’m not a psychopath, but I think that it would have been a nice gesture), stating that he didn’t want to detract from the rescue efforts.

In short, he did what he believed was essential, even if many others thought he was wrong.

Now, I don’t know whether Fox News is tabloid or not,
and I don’t have any problem with a president coming back with a quick scathing retort, or a tart comment,
but I do have a problem with a government taking my tax money
to fund a Tass style news-agency from the physical building where our executive power lies.

I do believe a President should be concerned about his image. In fact, I was being filmed for a news program once,
and they filmed me walking in the yard with my dog.
“Why don’t you call your dog to you, ” the camera man hollered. ” I whistled for my dog. My dog curled her tail between her legs and slunk away. Now my dog had never done that to me before.
I never ever beat her.
“Man, looks like she doesn’t like you,” the camera man said.
Not only was it an incredibly embarrassing moment, but I suddenly realized how important must be the job of the Presidential dog – trainer.

Could you see if Barney slinked away from George Bush. The entire nation, even those on the right would have turned on him.

I don’t think we’ve seen a psychopathic president since Nixon (Nixon’s Henchmen sneak into the Watergate Hotel to the Tune of ”
The Thieving MagPie”.),
who was shortly on the heals of Johnson (Huntley-Brinkley report
on his Presidency daily to the tune of Beethoven’s ninth ),

both of whom wiretapped individuals and each had a gripping infatuation with what was being said about them,
or a great need to manipulate the people around them, the people responsible for their image.

I don’t think we have a psychopathic president now. In fact, I think we have a bright President with the potential for a lot of good,
but I do think a President needs to do the job of being President,
and a president needs to grow up
and stop worrying about who’s saying what. (Hopefully while he’s still president).

The last time we really got to see a President,
change mature, and become a better person throughout life was George H. W, Bush.
Even people who didn’t vote for him respect him. No one wants to tell him, “Please shut up and go back to the farm.”
He’s illuminated by his great war heroism in the past, and mellowed by his humility in the present.
We see him in recent years working side by side with a former rival on humanitarian interests,
then again we see him in old newsreels swimming swiftly
from the enemy after his plane is shot down, unlike his contemporary, Mr. Carter,
a sour and critical busy body whose greatest act of physical prowess may have been fending off a killer rabbit…(To the tune of the William Tell Overture?)

Fox News may or may not be tabloid, however, Fox Business News ala Neil Cavuto, Fox Bulls and Bears, Cashin’ In, Forbes on Fox, etc,
are unparalleled
in presentation of business and the market, and the other Networks have had a revolving door of business personalities,
some who’ve come under fire for
pushing a direction in certain markets because they themselves had a vested interest in gaining from their promotion of those interests.

I’ve watched business on other networks and it’s so poorly constructed, so flimsily presented, that it really isn’t watchable.

There’s nothing to be learned from it.

What’s the Next target? The right leaning ‘Wall Street Journal?’
Or maybe the Internet,
Will they filter the Internet for American consumption as the Chinese do?
Damn! I’ve given them the idea.

Look, people on the right and independents aren’t fooled by attempts to marginalize a news agency,
Why? because these people read. Think about it, all of the best sellers are right wing authors.
Fox News is just what they do to rest their eyes.
Left wingers couldn’t sell a political or business book to save their souls, diving circulation of left wing newspapers,
and steady circulation of right wing books, weeklies and journals pretty much
testifies to that.

So back to business.

Now, it seems to me that this President was elected to repair the economy.
Remember? (To the tune of Timesteps)
which seems to have been entrusted to Timothy Geitner and Nancy Pelosi (Beethoven’s Suicide Scherzo is already playing in the background)

So, ‘Who does he watch?”
Please tell me not MSNBC. “And the Dow surged at the opening bell,
but then… the market…
…felt a tingle going up and down its leg…”

-Juan Zapatero

This entry was posted on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 10:36 pm and is filed under Social Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.